The Nitty Gritty of GHG Reductions

Clean Air - Cool Planet sponsored a workshop on “Meeting the Carbon Challenge: Reducing Emissions in Transportation, Buildings, and Smoke Stacks” as part of December's Maine Neighborhoods: Building Strong Communities conference in Portland, Maine.

The session, organized by Cool Planet’s Community Program Coordinator Amelia Ravin, featured a panel with Chris MacPherson, assistant city administrator for the City of Fredericton, New Brunswick; Erica Morgan, executive director of the Maine Energy Investment Corporation, Kevin Mallory, transportation director for the City of Portland Public Schools, and Peter DeWitt, communications director for the City of Portland.

The facilitator for the session was Beth Nagusky, director of the Maine Office of Energy Independence and Security, who kicked off the session with a brief explanation of the Carbon Challenge, and effort started in 2004 by Maine Governor John Baldacci to engage all sectors of the state in reducing greenhouse gases.

Nagusky noted that the agreement signed in 2001 by the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers calls for greenhouse gas emissions reductions to 1990 levels by 2010 and to 10% below 1990 levels by 2020, with the goal of an overall 75% to 80% decrease from 2003 levels. In 2003, in Maine passed a landmark Climate Change law, 38 M.R.S.A., § 575, which directs the Maine Department of Environmental Services to develop agreements with businesses and non-profit organizations to accomplish these goals.

The City of Portland was the first municipality to sign on to the Challenge, shortly after setting a new target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent by 2010 (for municipal operations).  Speakers on the panel shared their expertise on how the city will accomplish this and how other cities can do the same.

Portland Communications Director DeWitt confessed that, before the city signed on to the Governor’s Challenge “like a lot of people out there, I didn’t know much about global warming and what to do about it.  But back in May, when we signed on to the Governor’s Carbon Challenge, I learned more about it and what it means for future generations.”

DeWitt said the city rapidly realized it had to “walk the talk," so we started with an anti-idling policy for employees and the vehicles they drive on a daily basis.” He noted that the city is now engaged in an education program to help employees understand the new policy and why it’s important.

“I’m expecting calls from the public saying, ‘Hey, I saw a snow plow sitting there running for 15 minutes, what’s going on?’” DeWitt says.  “And part of my job is to track that down.”

He also noted that the city will deploy Vending Misers on some 150 vending machines around the city this year, so that they are not running 24-7, but only when people are around them.  He said that as the city takes on more projects, there will be a constant measuring process that will indicate what kind of progress is made.

“We did an inventory, and we have that as a benchmark, and are working with CA-CP we hope to have an intern to do another measurement,” he said.  “For me, it’s all about something meaningful, not just something on paper.  It was CA-CP who really brought us to the table, and showed us the power of partnerships to solve problems collectively.  It’s about communicating successes and why it’s important to take certain steps.”

Responding to studies showing that diesel emissions cause respiratory problems, the Portland School District in August of 2002 started a no-idling policy around schools and students, said school Transportation Director Kevin Mallory.  “We started with an outreach program to educate employees, and our program became the standard for the state.”

Following that initial phase, phase two involved retrofitting older buses with pollution prevention equipment to reduce particulates by 25 to 40 percent – and phase 3 will be the purchase and operation of compressed natural gas buses that will decrease pollution by 90 percent, Mallory said. “We will have three buses running in 2006.

“We also have signs at schools encouraging all drivers to turn off engines,” he added.

The final phase, he said, will be to determine safe walking routes to schools to reduce emissions by reducing use of vehicles and also to help combat childhood obesity.

“My hope is that we’ll replace our entire fleet with CNG buses in the next 10 or 12 years,” Mallory said.  “And we’re also replacing city buses – and those two together might meet the 10 percent challenge.”

In May of 2004, Clean Air - Cool Planet took representatives from Portland and two other Northeast communities on a visit to Fredericton, N.B. to examine the work that city had done to combat global warming.  Chris MacPherson was the group’s guide in Fredericton.

MacPherson noted that Fredericton, the Provincial capitol, is ISO 9001 certified, has community-wide wifi, and has committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent below 1990.  He explained that the city is doing that in a number of ways:

• Solid Waste – landfill methane recovery system, composting, blue-grey box recycling
• Street lighting – LED traffic signals and wattage measuring as well as a street-lighting policy: e.g., going from lights every second house to every fourth; reducing wattages by 50 watts per bulb throughout – and possibly a “dimmer switch” to pull the lights down at 3 in the morning.
• Building retrofit program – done in 2000, saves the city about $180,000 a year.
• Computer monitor upgrades – new ones 80 percent more efficient.
• Adapting for weather events such as flooding on the St. John River.
• Anti idling – staff written policies.
• Green parades – if you have a float, you have to push it or pull it.

Erika Morgan noted that her agency is looking at what businesses, communities, and individuals can do.

“We want people to develop their personal energy independence plan: A commitment to doing something,” she said, highlighting a three-step process: 1.)look at what your footprint is, your carbon emissions; 2.) set a target – something in relation to 1990 is best; and 3.) set out strategies to reduce emissions.

She said the Maine Energy Investment Corporation offers three options for strategies for step 3:

1. Green Power: Electricity from renewable resources purchased over the grid. 
   
   “We have a lot of renewable sources in Maine that can save an average person 4000 pounds CO2 per year by buying power from hydropower or biomass, and wind and solar are coming,” she said.  “Right now, there are nine different suppliers from whom you can purchase electric power, with different costs and benefits.”
   
2. Biodiesel: Fuel from vegetable oil, whether recycled waste oil or “new” oil, mostly from soybeans
   
   “The beauty of biodiesel,” she said “is that it can be quickly integrated into home heating and motor fuel, and there are sources available across the state.  While biodiesel has traditionally been more expensive than petroleum diesel, prices for biodiesel blends were actually cheaper this fall.”  She said the Maine Energy Investment Corporation is hoping to involve large diesel users in biodiesel purchasing.
   
3. Solar: Using the power of the sun to heat water
   
   “This is something that many of use should look at,” Morgan said, especially because solar hot water systems are subject to rebate in Maine and a federal tax credit – taking care of 50 percent of that cost – and then the cost of the energy is free.

For more information on these programs, contact:

Peter DeWitt, City of Portland, 207-756-8173, Peterd@portlandmaine.gov.

Erika Morgan, the Maine Energy Investment Corporation, 207-729-9665, www.renewmaine.org.